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The end of EHSAS funding and the end of the Wykehamist cluster in its current form.
Through the haziness of professional development, reflection, adaptation and change, we have emerged better than before. Better at understanding the concept of deep understandings and rich tasks, better at reflective practises, better at describing what it is we do and better at developing units of work that stimulate thinking with engaged learners.
Just as importantly, we acknowledge that we are not the best at these things. There are schools better and this is one of the many challenges facing Waituna West School currently. We are happy however, in the knowledge that we know what is required to be better. Our path and direction is clearer.
Easy to say, requires work to achieve.
Staffing
Throughout the EHSAS project, Waituna West School has had a high turnover of staff and this in itself has created challenges. Being a small school, we are able to change quickly but sustainability of change was and still remains the biggest issue we face. The embedding of good practise and the passing on of this practise to new and returning staff requires though and process. The building of a staff culture that allows questioning and challenging takes time. The ability to listen and accept constructive critiscm does not occur easily at times. At the end of the EHSAS project however, I can confidently say that the staff of Waituna West School are a very close and supportive group of professionals who have enjoyed the cluster and the benefits of working with the staff form a diverse range of schools.
Planning
Several planning formats have been used since the start of the project, some borrowed from other schools and some adapted by us. This in itself has been a big process as we attempt to find a template that can be easily adapted to suit or needs.
One of the issues we face not unique to ourselves is the time pressure faced by our curriculum. We have endeavoured to complete a rich task each term. Simply put, this allows for a knowledge-building period in the first half of the term and an individual inquiry culminating in a product or performance in the second half of the term.These units are backward planned from the end product withy the knowledge stages exposing children to the skills and information needed. What we have found time and time again is the pressures of timetabling have often meant the end products are not as fantastic as we have anticipated. This has occurred because the units have been planned too big.
During the most recent session with Hannan Harrison we developed a planning filter that can be used during the planning process. This filter removes the “busy” tasks and ensures there remains a constant link between the assessment, unit content and the significant question.
We have also decided to use whatever thinking skills and techniques are appropriate to the units and teaching needs instead of being solely a HOM school for example. This decision has been made based on our current class make up. Our year 1-8 students are in three classes. It is important that teachers have the flexibility to cater for individual, cohort and class needs.
Over the past two and a half years, our topic work has improved significantly with regards to engagement, content and learning. Every attempt has been made to use a context relevant to our learners and to use local resources where possible. This has enabled the engagement of learners to be achieved easier and independent skills have been developed as the learners themselves become more confident in their abilities.
On reflection.
Brilliant project to be involved in, great learning and development. This certainly isn’t the end of the journey for us, we have so much more to do. I wish we were beginning the Wykehamist cluster now!
Wykehamist?
The end of EHSAS funding and the end of the Wykehamist cluster in its current form.
Through the haziness of professional development, reflection, adaptation and change, we have emerged better than before. Better at understanding the concept of deep understandings and rich tasks, better at reflective practises, better at describing what it is we do and better at developing units of work that stimulate thinking with engaged learners.
Just as importantly, we acknowledge that we are not the best at these things. There are schools better and this is one of the many challenges facing Waituna West School currently. We are happy however, in the knowledge that we know what is required to be better. Our path and direction is clearer.
Easy to say, requires work to achieve.
Staffing
Throughout the EHSAS project, Waituna West School has had a high turnover of staff and this in itself has created challenges. Being a small school, we are able to change quickly but sustainability of change was and still remains the biggest issue we face. The embedding of good practise and the passing on of this practise to new and returning staff requires though and process. The building of a staff culture that allows questioning and challenging takes time. The ability to listen and accept constructive critiscm does not occur easily at times. At the end of the EHSAS project however, I can confidently say that the staff of Waituna West School are a very close and supportive group of professionals who have enjoyed the cluster and the benefits of working with the staff form a diverse range of schools.
Planning
Several planning formats have been used since the start of the project, some borrowed from other schools and some adapted by us. This in itself has been a big process as we attempt to find a template that can be easily adapted to suit or needs.
One of the issues we face not unique to ourselves is the time pressure faced by our curriculum. We have endeavoured to complete a rich task each term. Simply put, this allows for a knowledge-building period in the first half of the term and an individual inquiry culminating in a product or performance in the second half of the term. These units are backward planned from the end product withy the knowledge stages exposing children to the skills and information needed. What we have found time and time again is the pressures of timetabling have often meant the end products are not as fantastic as we have anticipated. This has occurred because the units have been planned too big.
During the most recent session with Hannan Harrison we developed a planning filter that can be used during the planning process. This filter removes the “busy” tasks and ensures there remains a constant link between the assessment, unit content and the significant question.
We have also decided to use whatever thinking skills and techniques are appropriate to the units and teaching needs instead of being solely a HOM school for example. This decision has been made based on our current class make up. Our year 1-8 students are in three classes. It is important that teachers have the flexibility to cater for individual, cohort and class needs.
Over the past two and a half years, our topic work has improved significantly with regards to engagement, content and learning. Every attempt has been made to use a context relevant to our learners and to use local resources where possible. This has enabled the engagement of learners to be achieved easier and independent skills have been developed as the learners themselves become more confident in their abilities.
On reflection.
Brilliant project to be involved in, great learning and development. This certainly isn’t the end of the journey for us, we have so much more to do. I wish we were beginning the Wykehamist cluster now!